Twilight Zone
by mikaykaayy
Summary: A new adventure begins! For the mages of Fiore's newest guild, Twilight Zone, a journey entitled to twist and turns is about to ensue.
1. Chapter 1

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_**I**_

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High in the summits of Fiore's southwestern mountains, a large mansion-like cabin stood, deep into the season of Spring whilst the radius surrounding it was being blanketed in heavy snowfall. The clean, perfectly circular cut off was a result of a magical dome. A dome created by the meteorology mage of the guild resting within.

This guild is Twilight Zone, the newest edition to the branch of legal guilds within Fiore's kingdom.

Tossing a pebble between hands, a girl of average height sat up on the blossoming meadow, watching the outside blizzard intently. Her hair was black, with a soft green tint to the bottom, that reached down her chest. The sharper green belonged to her eyes, and a distinct crescent shaped scar accented the left. A sigh escaped her lips as the inches outside the dome built up.

"I wish our winter would hurry up," she mumbled.

"You can always go out in _that_ winter, Ev," a voice chimed from behind her, followed by a chuckle.

"Caelestis, I told you not to call me Ev. My name is Evanee," an angry huff followed her words, "say it with me: EV-A-NEE."

The male behind her placed his hand on her head, tussling the already messy black waves.

"Sure thing... Ev."

"Why you...!"

**.**

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**.**

From inside the guild, a girl with vanilla blonde hair eyed Evanee and Caelestis, feeling a mixture of nervousness, anxiety, and excitement at what she was told would come when she met the ace.

She paced and chewed her lip, anxiously tapping her fingers.

"I hope it's nothing too harsh..."

**.**

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**.**

The white haired male, standing at a height of six-foot-two, snatched the small pebble from Evanee's hands; she rewarded him with snappy suck of her teeth.

"It's your responsibility as our ace to give your... weird ritual to any new girls."

"It's not weird, and I don't want to meet her," the shorter female retorted, staring down her pebble being juggled in the Master's hands.

"But you have to."

"Who says?"

"As you _guild master-_"

Evanee immediately cut in, "fine. Give me back my stone first."

Caelestis complied, tossing the rock into the air and above his accomplice's head. She caught it effortlessly in her mouth, bit into it, and swallowed it before turning and heading into the guild with a sour face.

Mere seconds later, the front door was practically kicked open as Evanee appeared, fists planted firmly on her hips. An inquisitive expression was easily identifiable as the black haired mage glanced around the loft for the newbie she was to initiate.

That girl, however, had been startled by the sudden entrance, and scuttled into the kitchen, an action that Evanee _really_ didn't like.

So, she shouted.

"Alright, newbie! If you're not out here in five seconds, this ritual turns into a punishment! 5... 4... 3..."

Just like a bolt of lighting, the newbie appeared before the SS-Class mage, balling her fists in attempt to shade her nerves.

"H-Hai! Victoria Lynn at your service...!"

Evanee raised a brow and folded her arms over her chest simultaneously.

"Age. Magic. Reason for being a mage. And why you came here," she recited in a monotone voice, not changing her facial expression either.

Victoria swallowed the lump in her throat and nodded quickly several times. Any faster, and Evanee feared her head would fall right off.

"17. Neon Make. I was taught by a maker mage after my grandmother passed. I heard about the newest recognized guild and was intrigued..." Victoria blinked, realizing her gaze had fallen to the floor after being so intimidated by Twilight Zone's ace. She quickly straightened, and almost shouted, "I-I hope that's okay..!"

"Relax, sheesh. Wait here."

After leaving the loft and entering the kitchen, Evanee shuffled through an assortment of stones she had collected around the snowy mountain top. These were used whenever she was to initiate a new member, as these were the stones she did not find appealing to herself. The mage fingered a smooth gray scale stone, studying it intently, before tossing it up and catching it completely with her hand. "This will do," she thought.

Upon walking back into the lounge area, Evanee noticed Victoria had not moved an inch. Under her breath, she mumbled about how this girl would either be a _great_ lackey, or a very annoying stick in the mud. Eventually, she came to the conclusion it would _probably_ be both. At least, in her book it would be.

She held the stone up to her new family member's face. "Open," Evanee commanded.

"O-Open...? What do you-"

Before she could finish, the rock was shoved into her mouth. "I'm betting Master didn't tell you, so I'll do it now. My name is Evanee Stalactite. I'm the Stone Dragon Slayer and ace of this guild. I guess rituals are the thing now, so I had to come up with my own." A faint, yet devious smirk was painted onto Evanee's lips. "This stone is not to touch the ground. If you drop it, you'll stand in the snow, holding cinder blocks on your shoulders." –

It wasn't very noticeable, due to the object in her mouth, but Victoria was frowning. She had already been told that Evanee wasn't the nicest, but she hadn't really expected to her to show so little emotion to someone she would have to live with now.

Something that had been more noticeable, was that the blond's nerves were certainly beginning to get to her. Victoria's hands were shaking; her stomach was twisting in knots. The last thing she wanted was to upset the ace of the guild. The idea of standing in the snow with _cinder blocks_ wasn't a favorite, either.

– "Got that?" Evanee inquired, seeing that the new mage in front of her had been clearly afraid.

Victoria nodded her head quickly before being led outside and placed next to the meteorology bubble that guarded their guild.

Evanee walked away, now standing approximately 10 feet from Victoria. Her smirk returned as a copper magic seal formed in front of her body.

"I forgot to mention, I'll be firing these projectiles at you. Don't move. _Don't_ drop my stone."

Giving no time for Victoria to react, the ground began to shake, and a multitude of differing size rocks and stones emerged from the Earth, immediately flinging themselves in the newbie's direction. "Sandstorm!"

The attacking mage felt almost no remorse as the newer molder mage struggled to keep the stone in her mouth while being pelted and bruised by rocks.

Eventually, she dropped it to let out a pained squeak, and Evanee dispersed her attack accordingly, matching with a suck of her teeth. "I'll get the cinder blocks."

**.**

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**.**

Outside the dome, despite the cold, Victoria was clearly breaking a sweat with the immense weight on her back.

Just then, a pained scream could be heard from Caelestis' office, and it could only mean one thing. Evanee leaned in to Victoria's ear, "just be glad you aren't a guy. _That's_ a harsh ritual."


	2. Chapter 2

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_**II**_

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Caelestis' office was decorated thoroughly with lustrous stars. It was as if all the stars in the galaxy were drawn into one room to illuminate it to the entire mountain side. At the edge of the room, in front of the large window with a five star view of the meadow on the opposite side, sat a large mahogany desk. The contents were simple, yet elegantly placed, flowing in perfect harmony.

Caelestis, however, was not sitting at his desk. Instead, his large frame hovered over another man, collapsed on the floor, and hugging his gut in pure pain and agony.

"Welcome to Twilight Zone," the white haired man insisted through a smile.

"Y-Yeah... T-Thanks..." The words were strained, evidence that his initiation _was_ harsher than what Evanee had given to the her newbie.

"Don't feel so bad, Flynn, every guy who joins get a punch to the groin. Man up, yeah?"

He could only groan.

"Sheesh, maybe I put a little too much power into that one... In any case, when you collect yourself, the rooms are located downstairs. This floor is reserved for those with the S-Class title and above. Don't stay here too long." The guild master reached down and patted Flynn on the head before walking out of the office for a stroll throughout the guild.

**.**

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Down in the main lobby area, Victoria was eying the near empty request board. As a relatively new guild, Twilight Zone was not receiving massive amounts of jobs as Fairy Tail or Sabertooth would. The several paper slips that they _had_ received on the board read:

"HELP WANTED! Convict escaped in the country of Bosco! 250K jewel reward for the capture and return of criminal to Bosco county jail!"

"CLOVER TOWN: Find and return stolen Celestial Magic keys. 75K reward!"

"SECURITY FAIL! Country of Seven in need of mages to guard Museum of Ancient Wonders!"

The blond maker mage was yet to be interested in the jobs. Was she shy and conservative of her abilities? Yes. However, she knew when something would test her strengths, and when something would be too easy, until...

"**URGENT! COUNTRY OF SIN IN ****DIRE ****NEED OF PROTECTION!**"

Victoria snatched the flier, carefully interpreting each word of the request. She reached the section that labeled the 575K jewel reward when it was snatched out of her hands with a distinct "_snap!_"

"What the _hell_ do you think you're doing?"

The voice was angry – no, _furious._ It sent shivers down the Neon mage's spine; it caused her eyes to snap open as far as they could go, and a bead of sweat to trail down her jawline. She didn't even want to turn around; there were fears she could face, and this one wasn't on the list just yet.

Victoria began to stutter and slur her words.

"I-... I-..."

"You _what?_" The other immediately retorted.

"I just wanted to take a job...!"

That was the line that did it. You could almost _hear_ the breaking of someone's temper. Without hesitation, the mage behind Victoria spun her around and forced her to look into those piercing green eyes.

Fear confirmed. Her second day in the guild, and she pissed off the ace. Victoria's mind was mentally applauding her for the stellar move while Evanee almost smeared the page on her peer's face.

"Ya' see this?" She insisted, pointing at two bold print words at the bottom right corner of the page, "this says _S-Class Mission._ Ya' know what that means? It means you're at least 10 years too unprepared to be taking this mission. Let alone by yourself."

Victoria's face was written out in comical apologetic sense. Her lip quivered slightly as she spoke.

"G-Gomen'nasai, Evanee-san..!"

"...Tch," the dragon slayer sneered and stuffed the mission into her pocket, turning around to dismiss herself in the process, "pick another job. I don't care which. This shouldn't have been down here, anyway."

As the SS-Class mage began her tread back to her room upstairs, Flynn came racing down past her, the rushing wind whispering a soft "_whoosh_" into her ear. It surprised her, enough to give him a second glance, but shot a menacing glare in the process. So far, she wasn't liking these new members. She wasn't about to give them a chance, either.

**.**

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**.**

A few hours pass; all the members of Twilight Zone gathered in the kitchen for a round of drinks and chatter, from the no-names to Master Caelestis. Except one... –

"Keh! I'm the fastest there is," Flynn bragged to the group of mages, "I could out run any of you – any time, any place! Bet!"

"Yeah!? Let's have a race!" A random member shouted.

"No need. I've already beat you twice! Allow me to introduce myself. The name's Flynn! Proudest Speed Mage you'll ever meet!" A smirk came across the blond male's face as he knocked back a shot of vodka.

"You didn't seem so speedy with your recovery earlier today, Flynn," Caelestis shot back in a joking tone, drawing out a slew of "_ohhhh!_" and "_daaaaaamn!_" shouts to erupt from the crowd. Calesestis couldn't help but chuckle in response. "It's good to be the master," he thought to himself.

At the opposite side of the room, Victoria sat shyly, watching the other, more open members, talk amongst themselves in sheer joy. Despite earlier events, it warmed her heart; she hadn't even noticed the bright smile they had all brought to her face until Flynn pointed it out.

"Oi! Join the fun, yeah?" The speed mage offered a hand to the quiet girl and lead her out into the cheerful group. The uneasiness she felt quickly disappeared as the jokes were shared left and right, only to be matched by hearty laughter and the clanking of glass bottles. There was no doubt that the bonds being made were going to help the up-and-coming guild through any hardships.

– As the enjoyment of the mages downstairs channeled their way through the walls, upstairs, tucked away into the hall for higher ranked mages, Evanee sat in her room, laid back on her bed as she read the S-Class job snatched from Victoria earlier in the day. Her finger traced up and down the sheets of her bed as ideas ran through the slayer's head.

"... The country of Sin, huh...?"


	3. Chapter 3

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_**III**_

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Evanee had thrown a large black cloak on and slung a tan drawstring bag over her shoulder. The job request peeked slightly out of her pocket, making the corner that labeled _"S-Class Mission"_ clearly visible. She pulled a hood over her head, concealing her black and green hair, and left the room; the ace stayed light on her feet as she slid out of Twilight Zone's front door, making sure none of the members in the kitchen saw her depart.

Just as she had been closing the door, a tall man with a distinct top hat reached over to catch it.

"What timing! Beautiful trick!" He said through a gleeful chuckle, causing Evanee to sneer.

"You need a new line. And a toned down attitude," she shot back coldly.

"Ooh, tough crowd."

"Yeah, I'll be leaving now."

"But wait!" The man lifted his top hat, twirling it skillfully in his hands before reaching in, and removing a familiar slip of paper, "is this your card?"

The dragon slayer pinched the bridge of her nose in distaste as the bold words _"S-Class Mission"_ were spelled out. Without hesitation, she snatched the request and shoved it back into her pocket where it belonged, "Don't you have somewhere to be, Ry!?"

"Not until four."

"It's passed – …." Evanee groaned, "whatever. I'm going on a mission. _You_ have newbies to meet and greet. Have fun."

Rylo bowed as his guild mate dismissed herself, "thank you, and goodnight!"

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The streets were lined with radiant flames and fear stricken villagers. Screams of horror echoed the town as homes were crushed, businesses ignited, and statues collapsed over. Through the smoke, debris, and embers, the only figure easily distinguishable was frighteningly tall, with piercing red eyes that could have been spotted a mile away. A behemoth. The reason the country of Sin was in so much distress. The reason the request was placed. The reason a certain Twilight Zone mage was going to risk her life, for reasons she honestly didn't understand fully herself.

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Surprisingly, the loft of Fiore's new guild was extremely lively. Towards the front, near the fireplace, a boombox blared dance music into a collected crowd of guild members. In the middle of the circle, an area wide enough for one to dance was set up, and that's exactly what it was being used for.

In the middle of the circle was none other than Rylo, the S-Class mage who had just returned from his job in Seven, and to lighten the atmosphere, he decided to show off to the newbies his break dancing skills. Matching the music he danced to, many members were beat boxing to emphasize the tempo, while other members were cheering him on from the sidelines.

"Get it, Ry!"

"You the man!"

Suddenly, the cocky speed mage pushes his way through the dense circle, a smirk crossing his lips. "Hey! Let me give it a shot!"

Ry jumped up, a grin plastered on his own face as he gestured to the dance floor, leaving it all open to Flynn, "it's all yours. Show me what'cha got!"

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"All aboard the 9 o'clock train to Sin. All aboard the 9 o'clock train to Sin."

A train whistle sounded, and the iron horse departed.

Inside, Evanee sat calmly in her seat with her eyes closed and hands in her lap. To anyone, it would seem nothing was wrong on the outside, but on the inside...

She wanted to _hurl_. She wanted to throw herself onto the ground and just _suffer_.

But most of all, she just wanted to get _off_ that train and onto solid ground. Sweet, sweet, motionless, solid ground.

Of course, as a dragon slayer, no matter how powerful she may be, Evanee still suffers from motion sickness. "This is going to be a very long train ride," she thought to herself, and long it would be. Five hours until the train docks in the country of Sin. She may have been thinking of herself at that point, but in the back of her mind, the SS-Class mage knew it was her responsibility now to make it to the desperate call for help in that country, and aid in any way she possibly could. The most difficult decision of this thought was simply deciphering the _actual meaning_ of her taking this mission. Was she really leaving Fiore to help the villagers in need? Or was she leaving Fiore for a hidden personal gain of her own? There's a difference between responsibility and care. A big difference.

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A powerful roar rammed into the village, destroyed everything in its path. The beast it came from lifted its head into the air and sniffed curiously, then looked down, spotting nothing but the absolute destruction and genocide of the town and its people. Its red eyes flashed, and it unleashed one last roar, wiping out the smoldering flames before it moved on to the neighboring town. The behemoth's large stature caused the Earth to shake as it took its leave. Growls were emitted, letting the next slew of people know that their end was on its way.

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"Alright, everyone listen, and listen closely," Master Caelestis was at the foot of the stairs; the sound of his voice carried through the guild, amplified with his Sound magic, and broke up the cluster and excitement of the dance tournament. A ghostly hush dominated the loft as everyone's ears perked to hear what the man had to say.

"I'm _more_ than sure you all know this, but apparently there's been a lack of requests being taken, and jewels being brought in. You know who you are, but starting tonight, I want everyone to go out on more jobs. As a new guild, we don't only need funds, but we need a way to get our name out there, yeah?"

A simultaneous nod ran like a wave through the room, only to be followed up by an eruption of cheering, which brought a smile to Caelestis' face.

"I like the enthusiasm. So, let's get it going. It's time for Fiore to enter the Twilight Zone!"

Fists were raised into the air as the cheering rang through once again. Just after that, the mages all gathered around the request board to pick and choose their missions.

**.**

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**.**

The hours finally pass. Evanee exits the Sin train station at 2 AM. The dark of the night sky was eerie, but the silence that echoed the pitter-patter of the dragon slayer's heels was worse.

It took her over a half hour, but she finally wandered into the first decimated village. Evanee lifted her head into the air, sniffing it as she furrowed her brows. A confident grin painted her face.

"A demon, huh? This is really going to be fun."

Without another word, she followed her nose in the direction of the beast's scent.


	4. Chapter 4

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_**IV**_

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"_Go on, Evanee. Show us what you can do."_

"_Yeah! You wanna be big and strong like us, right?"_

"_You can do it!"_

"_I believe in ya', sis!"_

_I'm coming to see you._

_If it's the last thing I do._

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The dragon slayer's nose guided her to a familiar town, undergoing the ruthless destruction of a demon. She had no time to ponder on the damages; to be in awe of the beast; or to stand there in shock and just... watch. First and foremost, she knew there were villagers in danger, and their lives were now her responsibility. The one thing she could think of doing in order to take the demon's attention away from the town, was to put its attention on herself. She drew in a deep breath, her cheeks puffed out.

"Roar... of the Stone Dragon!" Evanee leaned forward, releasing a powerful tornado of stone and debris towards the demon. The attack graced her foe's back, causing it to release an ear shattering screech and ultimately turn to face the direction from which it came. Its piercing red eyes found none other than Evanee, crouched at the ground with her palms planted firmly.

"Let's dance."

The confidence in her attitude was easily interpreted, even as the massive beast began to charge towards her with an arm slung back. Just as it was about to land a hit to Evanee's petite – by comparison – frame, a copper seal formed at her palms, and a vortex sprung up, engulfing the demon in a whirlpool of swirling fine stone sediments, "Dragon Cyclone!"

The demon was, indeed, engulfed, but the attack was giving off rather little damage. A short roar was emitted from the beast before it swung its hand down, sweeping Evanee off her ground and sent her flying into a nearby building. She emitted a grunt and the bricks collapsed from impact and landed around her, but the dragon slayer showed nearly no signs of damage.

"Heh, now you're asking for it," she yelled up in confidence.

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"We're mages, too, you know!"

"Yeah! We shouldn't be sitting here and letting our town get destroyed!"

"It's not fair to everyone else that lives here!"

Three young men, all of average height, were protesting to a group huddled on the floor.

"There was a request put out for a reason. You're untrained. The three of you are letting a professional handle this, and that's that," the oldest man responded, keeping his arms wrapped around a woman and two teenage girls.

"Your father knows what he's talking about. You aren't risking your lives for this."

"Just because someone else is doing it for us!?" All three males shot back in a clearly annoyed tone.

"Yes."

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Another powerful roar was nearing Evanee at an alarming velocity. However, her senses were sharp, and her guard was high, meaning she had been able to successfully fire her own Stone Dragon's Roar to collide with her foe's. The force of the demon's was incredibly close to out doing her, but the proud mage would never let that happen. With another exertion of power, her gray tornado pushed back the black and red vortex from the stand off, creating a large explosion to occur and send shock waves through the city; powerful enough to shatter all the windows within the area.

Evanee shielded herself from the debris that was flung into her path, clenching her eyes shut at just the right time.

The right time for the demon to unleash a powerful lime-green cosmic beam from its palm, that is.

The blast slammed into the dragon slayer's forearms. The force was strong, but she was able to hold her ground for several moments before it pushed her back, causing her to tumble over herself helplessly. Her arms were scathed and bruised, clothing torn, and body cloaked in dirt.

Barely visible from the cloud of debris that had been kicked up, was a copper aura. Inside the wavering magic cloak, Evanee wiped the small pool of blood that had dripped from her mouth away, and smirked up towards the behemoth.

"Show me what you've _really_ got, demon."

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"You guys can stay here, I don't care. I'm going," the oldest brother stated.

"Damien, no you're not."

"I'm going with him," the second agreed.

"Edmund, stop this."

"They aren't going..." the third one said warily.

"Thank you, Luke, for not being an.." –

"Without me," he finished.

Their father and mother simply sat there, mouths gaping in disbelief.

Their sisters were on the verge of tears.

"You may all be cowards, but we aren't."

"We know when we can help."

"And we're going to help, dammit."

The three brothers all gave simultaneous stern nods, their green eyes glimmering with confidence. As they walked out of their house and into the village, their parents were shouting at them.

"Don't bother coming back if you leave!"

"We raised you better than this!"

They all shrugged off the statements. They really hadn't been so fond of their family, and it wasn't a recent thing. 11 years. For _11 years_, their household was never the same.

**.**

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**.**

"_Well, Evanee? What are you waiting for?"_

"_Show us all that new power you've got!"_

"_...A-Are you sure I should..?"_

"_Yeah! You're a Dragon Slayer now!"_

"_That's the coolest magic there is!"_

"_Alright..." _

_The air became heavy._

_The petite dragon slayer was emitting a powerful copper aura. The wavelengths rose and fell in smooth movements as gray scales form around the girl's cheeks, up her arms and legs, and around her neck. _

_She tried to open her mouth to speak, but all that came out was an ear shattering roar._

_She tried again, but all that came out was a tornado, filled to the brim with razor sharp stones._

"_DUCK!" Mr. Carlisle exclaimed, pushing the three young boys out of the radius of the blast, resulting in a direct hit to his left thigh, leaving his flesh torn and raw._

"_That's enough for today, Evanee..." _

_**.**_

_**.**_

"_She's not stable, dear. If we keep her around, she could potentially destroy this place. She could destroy the family."_

"_...But she's our daughter.."_

"_And we have two other daughters, not to mention three sons. Do you want to put their lives in danger just to keep her here?"_

"_..."_

"_That's what I thought. Tomorrow morning, she goes."_

**.**

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**.**

"Our parents never cared, anyway," Damien started, "they wouldn't have gotten rid of Evanee if they did. After this, I won't be going back."

"I'm not, either," Edmund added.

Luke simply nodded in agreement with his two older brothers.

They all put their hands in, counted off an enthusiastic cheer, and took off further into the village, into the direction of the demon, and unknowingly... Their sister.


	5. Chapter 5

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_**V**_

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"Earth..."

A large copper seal formed beneath the red-eyed monster. Boulders shot upwards from the Earth below and encased it in what appeared to be a stone coffin.

"Burial!"

The rocks emit a bright white light, signaling the expansion of the magical power within them, and subsequently erupted, creating an especially large scale explosion due to the beast's size. As the smoke cleared, the demon let out a deranged and pained roar before it fired off another lime-green blast from its palm, this one having a wider diameter than the first.

"S-Shit...!"

The dragon slayer barely had the chance to slam her palms on the ground and conjure up an enormous wall of stone as her defense mechanism. The demon's blast rammed into it; the green waves expanding like liquid on a table surface. As the attack neared its end, Evanee's wall shattered; the recoil of magic was enough to force her back a ways. She used a hand to drag along the ground as a brake, stopping her from sliding just before she would be thrown into a building.

"Damn, you're persistent..."

The demon reared back its left arm, and swung a hand down towards the slayer. She didn't move at all, instead, she anticipated the strike, and as the claws approached her, Evanee skillfully leaped upwards and traveled with enhanced speed up the arm. As she reached its shoulder, she gathered magical energy in her mouth. "Roar," she lunged forward, firing an amplified vortex of razor sharp stones towards the eyes of her opponent, "of the Stone Dragon!"

Her roar hit, point blank, in the demon's eye, rupturing it and causing it to wail in pain. The behemoth began to sway to and fro, and Evanee had just enough time to leap backwards off the shoulder, sticking the landing to the ground.

**.**

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"Roar of the Stone Dragon!"

Damien, Edmund, and Luke all witnessed the mysterious hero as she pushed out a massive roar, putting damage onto the demon. The three of them gawked in awe before snapping back into reality. They noticed her panting; the heavy breathing she was trying to hide came through as her shoulders rose and fell in struggling reprise.

"I hope you two are ready!" Damien said, a grin masking his face, "try to keep up!"

Just then, a copper seal formed beneath the demon, glowing brightly before it was encased in dense boulders.

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"Earth Burial!"

…_. That can't be …._

Evanee stood there, completely wide-eyed as she watched the explosion that followed the attack ensue.

_He shouldn't be out here._

"Rock Shower!"

The second attack descended from the air. Multiple copper seals were suspended into the air as they spewed out an onslaught of boulders, all raining down over the demon's head. Another screech came from the beast, loud enough to leave a ringing in Evanee's sensitive ears.

"Stone Breath!"

A desert storm blew in from behind. All visibility was reduced to near nothing.

_Why are they out here..!?_

The dragon slayers thoughts were completely jumbled. She couldn't think straight. Of course, she knew this was her old village; her old _home._ But she just couldn't fathom that her brothers would rush out here. This was a demon she's fighting. They could get themselves _killed._ Granted, her own life was at risk, too, but... this was her duty. Her responsibility. Hers alone. There wasn't a need for them to get involved.

A single bead of sweat dropped down her jawline. Evanee's body was shaking. Her emotions were running amok. Fear, worry, surprise, happiness, and anger.

Just then, the palm of the black beast slammed into the girl's side, and sent her flying into the nearest building edge. A pained shriek escaped her lips as the brick wall collapsed over her damaged body.

All her brothers heard was the yelp. Immediately, they all assumed the worst, when suddenly bricks were shattered and shards flew over the area. The boom was as if a bomb had just detonated in the area.

Evanee emerged from the rubble, a powerful copper aura emitting from her as gray scales slithered over her features.

**.**

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**.**

The young men's confidence quickly withered into disbelief as the air thickened and the magical pressure became dense. Even though there was a heavy cloud of dust, they could faintly make out Evanee's figure. In addition to that, the radiating aura shone light that danced off the stone particles in the air. It was all too familiar.

"...Damien..."

"Sh, Luke. I see it, too."

"You don't think that could be...?"

**.**

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**.**

"I've had it with this fight. I'm done playing around," the Twilight Zone mage brought a hand to her cheek, wiping the blood away only to display a smirk, "this is the end for you."

_I can end this now._

_For them._

Evanee balled her hands into fists, clenching tightly as she evaluated her own strength on herself. This was the first time she had entered Dragon Force since she was 5. Her ears were twitching as her brother's whispered about her from a distance. It wasn't about completing the mission for a reward, now it was about protecting her family. Something that, despite her cold disposition, _always_ came first in her mind. Especially blood family. And with this mode, she could do just that.

She inhaled a deep breath, puffing out her cheeks, and launched an amplified roar towards the demon. After sending the attack, she used her keen sense of smell to sniff out its scent in the midst of the sandstorm, and when she found it, she encased her hands in stone, leaving small openings at the palms, which resembled a gun barrel.

"Stalactite Spears!" Despite her previous injuries, her voice was strong – as always, for no matter what she felt, she would never allow herself to appear weak – and the slayer began thrusting her hands forward in reprise, firing thick, stiff, almost lance-like spears composed of stalagmite towards the beast, aiming directly at those blood-red eyes. Evanee always had impressive accuracy, and even with reduced visibility, this would be no different. Several of her spears ended up logged in its eyes, the rest becoming implanted around areas of the face.

Her attacks may have been strong, but she was running out of ways to postpone her magical exhaustion.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Edmund questioned.

"Shut up and do it. Trust me, it's going to help," Damien retorted.

Luke sat quiet for a few moments before speaking up, "it's now or never, guys."

Just as the demon was ready to flatten Evanee into a pancake, they all hold their hands up, creating copper colored seals at their palms.


	6. Chapter 6

_**.**_

_**.**_

_**VI**_

_**.**_

_**.**_

The Carlisle brothers raised their hands in unison. The seal that came forth was large – much larger than anything they'd ever created. What they were about to perform has only been practiced twice; it was no where near perfect, and certainly not very safe. But it was something they felt they _had_ to do. After all, they owed this girl their lives for taking a request no one else would. For protecting their town. They were going to pay her back, by any means necessary.

Through the seal came a wave of molten liquified Earth. It acted as if it had a mind of its own; twisting and turning between the atmosphere as it raced towards the demon in a swirling tornado. As contact was made, the molten stone immediately solidified into stone minerals. The result was the encasement of the terrorist's legs.

"Now's your chance!" Edmund had shouted towards Evanee.

"Wait," Luke responded quickly, "Earth Fall!" A magic seal formed in front of the dragon slayer, spilling out a flood of stones immediately after. They pooled at her feet, and she simply stared in awe for a few moments.

_They know, huh?_

"I guess I'm not always good at harboring secrets," Evanee mumbled to herself, a subtle grin coming across her lips.

As the trapped demon raged about its restricted movement, the mage dove a hand into the rock pile, not wasting any time on being picky as she would at home, and tossed them into her mouth, biting down on them as if they were candy and swallowing them in entirety. Now with replenished magical power, her grin was replaced by a wide smirk. A plan had already been set in motion; this was the time for her to defeat the enemy. And she would do so without fail.

"Roar..." Her breath was drawn in. Her cheeks puffed out. It appeared as if she was bloated to the point of explosion. "...of the Stone Dragon!" Immediately following her words, Evanee threw her head forward, unleashing an exceptionally powerful roar towards the demon, as Dragon Force was on her side. However, it wasn't in her intent to stop there. To follow up on her roar, she held both her hands up, open palmed, and called forth a copper seal. She waited until the first assault hit – which it did rather successfully, leaving the demon scathed and wailing – before using her Earth Magic to collapse the Earth beneath it. A rather large crater was created and the demon fell to the bottom. Before long, the rocks that composed the inner walls began to crack and emit a bright white light; pure magic from the ground was expanding rapidly and dangerously. She called out, "eruption!" and the ditch that held her foe exploded immediately. The blast whisked up into the air in an enormous mushroom cloud formation. One last cry was emitted from the pit before a silence fell over the town.

It was eerie, similar to the sound of emptiness that came with the first decimated town. Although this one had clearly been on its way to total destruction, in the nick of time, Evanee was able to stop it. With the help of her brothers, she was able to save the souls of her once loved village. It was heartwarming, really. A turn around moment for the "cold hearted" girl that came to be.

She wiped the sweat from her forward as she descended from the Dragon Force form. Panting ever so slightly, she took a second handful of the stones Luke had placed for her and eagerly munched and swallowed. It was times like this Evanee was more than glad she was able to replenish her power with eating. Of course, she (and her brothers) had defeated the demon, but even after such, weakness was not acceptable. It never had been, and it will continue to be that way, for as long as she lives.

The three defiant Carlisle brothers, however, were a slightly different story.

As "untrained" mages, they had never experienced a wearing battle, such as one with a demon. No matter how excited they wanted to be, they were hunched over and breathing heavily. Their magical power was near empty; their unison raid attack being enough to draw them close to their limits, especially with their extreme inexperience with carrying the attack out. It was all rookie mistakes, completely understandable to Evanee, but something she could do something about.

After dusting off her hands, the dragon slayer walked over to her keeling brothers. There was a pit of nervousness in the bottom of her stomach as she approached them. _It's been 13 years,_ she thought. It was weird for her. They would always be her brothers, that much is true, but were they truly the only ones who cared for the lives of fellow mages?

She feared a few things. For one, even though her family rejected her, she wasn't ready to hear from them the reality of their ways. It was _her family_ after all, isn't she supposed to love them regardless? Or does their absence of love for her contemplate for the absence of love for them?

_There's no need to be thinking of this now. They're here, they helped, and I came to talk to them, anyway. _

"Time to face it," Evanee muttered under her breath.

She stopped a few feet in front of them, leaving a somewhat decent gap – perhaps five to eight feet apart. Apparently, she didn't have to do anything to get their attention, they immediately looked up with bright smiles. Their tattered clothes and tired eyes were sandstones compared to the glimmer of hope and happiness in their expressions. "Evanee," Damien, Edmund, and Luke all whispered in unison, "it's been a while, huh?"

"A little too long, if you ask me," Evanee replied. And in truth, it had been.

"So.. You're a guild member now, huh?" Damien questioned.

"Yeah, Twilight Zone. I'm the ace, actually..."

"Heh, I'd expect no less from ya'. After all those crazy..." He blinked, trailing off slightly. Before continuing on, he mumbled his last word. "You always had more potential than any of us."

A subtle frown crossed her lips as she rubbed the back of her neck. "I guess..."

All three boys straightened up, having caught their breath. They truly couldn't help themselves; in a team, they grabbed their sister and pulled her into a tight embrace.

"We missed you, ya' know that, right?" Edmund stated.

"... I missed you guys, too..."


	7. Chapter 7

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_**.**_

_**VII**_

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_**.**_

The battle had raged on for nearly two hours. Now at 4:00 AM, the small portion of the reunited Carlisle family sat on the rubble of the battlefield, actually talking, catching up, and laughing. The four of them hadn't a care in the world of the setting moon and brightening sky. Soon enough, the sun would rise, and it was sure to be a beautiful sight. After all, sunshine always follows the rain.

Evanee couldn't remember the last time she had felt so free. And this just felt _right._ Their voices all molded together in harmony, and their laughs had just felt so hearty and healthy. It was as if a large burden had been lifted off all their shoulders, and this was their reward for getting rid of it. Most importantly, it was like _they were never separated._

"Twilight Zone, huh?" Luke questioned.

"Mhm, we just got on the map." Evanee responded with a subtle smile.

"And you're the ace!?" Edmund butted in.

"Second best to the Master. That's me."

They all gawked, not in disbelief, but in awe. Their sister, the one who was thought of as a threat, had done something with herself. None would admit it, but they hadn't actually expected Evanee to make it very far on her own. Clearly they were wrong; clearly, their sister had more drive and determination than they did combined. _She _was now _their_ inspiration, rather than they being hers. There was no shame in it. Evanee had become a very powerful mage, and that was enough for them to look up to her in some way.

But, there was just one question that had to be asked.

Damien scratched the top of his head for a moment before cautiously approaching a phrase. He tried to keep it as sincere as possible, hoping not to offend Evanee in any way. "... So, what exactly did you do after.. Y'know?"

"After Mom and Dad decided they didn't want me anymore?" She rubbed the back of her head after finishing her sentence, a somber expression tainting her previously giddy features.

"Y-You don't have to tell us..! I was just ask–"

"Just asking, I know. Relax, Damien. I don't mind, really. To be honest with you guys, I didn't really think I was going to make it out on my own. I was little, inexperienced, and pretty damn broken. I wouldn't have gone far at all. I wandered for a week. Any longer, I probably would have keeled over and died... But..."

"But what..!?" Luke jumped in, a little too eager to hear the story, but too impatient to sit quietly. Ironically, it made Evanee chuckle slightly, and her features softened out.

"Stalagmus found me."

The youngest brother ended up with wide eyes; he leaned in closer to the slayer with his palms on the ground. In a way, he reminded her of a kindergartener, listening closely as the teacher explained numbers and letters. "The dragon!?" Luke piratically yelled, earning a slap on the back of the head from Damien.

"Shut up and listen, would ya'?"

"Gomen..."

Another laugh escaped the guild ace as she nodded slowly. "Yeah, the dragon. He took me under his wing and became my foster parent. It was nice, really. I always felt secure with him. Not too long after that, he taught me how to use Stone Dragon Slayer magic in addition to my lacrima. So, I'm a third generation."

A simultaneous "wow," came from all three brothers, followed by an "and then what!?"

"He trained me every day, so that I could become one of the strongest slayers. But... Stalagmus ended up getting sick... Really sick, actually. And one day he called me into the cave; he told me he wouldn't last very much longer..." Evanee trailed off slightly, a faint sigh escaping her lips, "he wanted me to kill him."

_Silence._

It was written all over their faces. Shock. Their gawking had gone from admiration to disbelief at this point. Evanee averted her eyes.

"It really took me a while to get the courage to do it," she continued, "he was my father, after all. Three days. Three days of coaxing before I had to do it. It was July 6th, the year 777. I'll remember that day until I die myself."

"Isn't that...?" Edmund didn't even have to finish his sentence for her to know what he was asking. She simply nodded.

"The day before all other dragons disappeared. After that, I was alone again. I didn't wander for nearly as long as the first time, because Caelestis found me on the third day. I basically became his pupil, and he became my closet friend."

"I owe him my life, really. But anyway, 11 years later, and we're still a team. Running a guild, nonetheless."

None of the four had noticed that over an hour had passed. 5:16 in the morning, the sun rose. Damien put on a warm smile as the star peeked over the horizon in a glistening golden light. "Well, you know what they say. The sunshine always comes after the rain, Evanee."

Such a simple statement, but so much warmth was brought from it. Evanee put on the brightest smile she had in years in response to Damien. "You're absolutely right," she responded as she stood from the rubble. Edmund, Damien, and Luke all followed after her, dusting the soot and debris from their clothing. They all released a peace driven, yet saddened sight in unison, as they knew the time had come to say their goodbyes.

But Evanee had an idea. Something she at least had to try before the departure. She faced the three green-eyed, dark haired males. "Hey," she humbly began, "what are you three planning on doing now..?"

"We can't go home," Luke responded, "Mom and Dad don't want us back."

"They didn't like us coming to help a professional mage to protect the village," Damien added on.

"It was pretty stupid..." Edmund finished for them.

"How would you guys feel about coming home with me? Caelestis would be thrilled to have more members, and we can get back those lost years," she suggested in response, internally deeply hoping they'd accept. 13 years was too long to be away from the ones that, after all this time, still cared for her. It took a few moments for them to respond, as they were slightly taken aback by the request. It wasn't that they didn't want to join, but they wanted to explore the land of Fiore to the best of their abilities.

"Evanee," the oldest started, "we'd love to... But, we were planning on being independent mages."

"Yeah, we figure it's time for us to explore this place to its entirety."

"Oh..." she responded, showing a slightly somber expression again, "well, that's fine! Just be careful. It's not easy out there."

"Yeah, you bet we will."

Damien flashed another smile before he pulled his younger siblings into a tight embrace. They all wrapped arms around each other, mostly smothering the shorter Evanee. When they broke apart, Edmund patted her on the head while the other two walked off, and whispered quietly, "you be careful too, Ms. Big-shot." He gave a smirk before taking off in a sprint to catch up with Damien and Luke.

"Of course I will," the now lone dragon slayer spoke to herself as she watched her brothers disappear on the horizon; a smile remained on her lips as a single tear slid gracefully down her cheek.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Another three and a half hours passed, at 8:30 AM, Evanee stepped off the train in Fiore's train station, inhaling deeply as she gathered herself from the motion sickness, and took in the fresh air of the country she had grown to love. With her (slightly torn) cloak on, and her brown drawstring, she headed west for the mountains, and more importantly, for her home at Twilight Zone.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Unfortunately, you two will have to wait until Evanee returns to be _officially_ members on the guild," Caelestis stated to the two new girls standing in his office, "and considering I have no idea where she has gone, it may be some time."

The green haired girl nodded cheerfully as she stood beside a taller blond, who had a rather indifferent expression. "That's okay," the cheery one began, "I'm fine with waiting! I'm just glad to be here!"

"Yeah, me too," the blond agreed.

"Fantastic, then, ladies. Please, choose your rooms downstairs. This floor is strictly forbidden to anyone without the title of S-Class or above."

"Aye!" They shouted in unison.

**.**

**.**

**.**

9:30 in the morning, Evanee kicks in the front door to the Twilight Zone guild, immediately dropping her things at her feet. She looked around curiously for a few moments before finding no one, and shouting throughout the guild. "Are any of you lazy mages up!?"

Just then, Rylo came sliding down the railing leading from the second floor with confidence in every aspect of his person.

"Evanee! I'm challenging you to a fight!" He exclaimed as he stepped in front of his superior.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Jokes and tricks may be my favorite things, but this is completely serious!"

Evanee couldn't even respond. She simply pinched the bridge of her nose in distaste as she turned on her heels and walked back outside to the meadow in front of the guild, expecting the S-Class to follow her, which, without fail, he did.

"I won't lose this time, Ev!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!"

The ex-theif only laughed, sliding a foot back as he readied his attack...


	8. Chapter 8

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_**VIII**_

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_**.**_

"You're confident you want to do this, right?" Evanee inquired to the ex-thief who was already in his offensive stance and ready to pounce.

"Hell yeah I'm sure! You're going down, Ev!" Rylo eagerly replied. "Here I come!" Before the black-haired male had even completed his sentence, he lunged forward with a fist reared back, preparing to swing. The dragon slayer had not budged an inch, but a split second prior to his fist connecting with Evanee's jaw, she had caught his hand in her palm, as if it were the baseball and she wore the glove. He couldn't even blink before a stone encased fist was rammed into his gut, sending him flying backwards from the sheer force of the blow. The S-Class emitted a low grunt as he tumbled across the grass – which left his bleach white dress shirt stained green – but quickly collected himself and dug his fingers to the ground to halt any further movement.

**.**

**.**

**.**

From inside the guild, the two new recruits, Caelestis, Victoria, and Flynn, all watched the fight ensuing in the front yard.

"Evanee-chwan is definitely going to win!" The newest green-haired mage exclaimed.

"I wouldn't let her catch you calling her that..." Flynn suggested. Right after, he grinned, noticing their ace catch and swing at Rylo before he even had time to inhale. "Now that's speed. Not as speedy as me, but speed nonetheless!"

**.**

**.**

**.**

"You won't get rid of me that easily!" Rylo shouted back to Evanee. He stood, and took off again in a sprint towards the SS-Class. Upon reaching her, instead of throwing a traditional set of physical assaults, he ducked down and balanced on his hands and head, now spinning rapidly to utilize his break dancing skills as his means of melee. At first, it had caught Evanee by surprise, allowing several of his kicks to connect with her mid section. She had shown no change in stature or emotion, but there was no doubt Rylo _was_ powerful, and would be leaving a few marks on her from that.

As he was focusing more on landing hits on Evanee, rather than defending himself, when she had bent down onto her hands and one knee to throw a sweep kick at his wrists, Rylo barely had the time to launch himself into the air and narrowly avoid it. However, the SS-Class was already in a position to throw another attack that he wasn't expecting.

With her hands planted firmly on the ground, a copper seal formed beneath her opponent, "Dragon Cyclone," Evanee chanted, releasing magical power at the same time, which ultimately caused a vortex of dirt and debris to spring from the land and engulf him, pelting him with blunt stones and sharp shards of rock. Rylo's clothing was torn, along with surface wounds in his flesh. He developed bruises along his torso and legs.

However, he knew his limits, and he knew he would not be able to withstand the full attack – _especially_ since Evanee _never_ dialed her power down. So, the magician opened up the wristlet of his sleeve. "Nothing up my sleeve!" He called out, and just like that, he had activated his reverse projectiles trick, and absorbed Evanee's vortex. It was almost like a black hole. The only difference is, what goes in, eventually comes back out.

It never failed to make Evanee sneer. She hated when people used her own attacks against her. The dragon slayer pressed her arms down before propelling herself up so that she may land on her feet. At the same time, she had been drawing in a deep breath. Her cheeks were puffing out as her head was tilting back. "Roar..." Evanee threw her head forward, and fired off an extremely concentrated tornado of extremely sharps shards of stone – capable of shredding more of Ry's flesh – "of the Stone Dragon!" The attack raced towards the damaged mage at an alarming rate, but luckily...

"Reverse Projectile!" Rylo shouted as the roar was released, and lifted his sleeve, firing his own "Dragon Cyclone" blast back at Evanee. The two attacks collided, and rested in a stalemate for several moments before resulting in a devastating explosion.

"Nothing up my sleeve," the male again stated with a smirk.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Those brats sure have gotten stronger," Caelestis said as he watched closely, intently observing the powers of both mages.

"I want to fight the winner!" Flynn added on... Quickly, if not immediately, of course.

"...Soon..."

**.**

**.**

**.**

Immense amounts of dust and debris where now sifting through the air, hindering visibility to the point of near blindness. But, to Evanee's advantage, this was only handicapping Rylo in the long run. As a dragon slayer, her impeccable sense of scent was unmatched. He may need to see her to attack, but she did not need to see him.

The magical pressure within the area rose. A faint buzzing sound was barely audible from Evanee's general direction. A copper aura was being emitted from her feet with lengths that rose and fell in a smooth pattern. There was no doubt that it had been Evanee's Stone Drive mode, the first of two supportive Dragon Slayer magics.

With her sense of sight rendered useless, her sense of smell increased more than it even needed to be. Now, she used it to carefully sniff out Rylo and pursue him with enhanced speed. Her two fists were encased in stone as she approached his front, making her visible just in time so that he could watch her throw a punch with her dominant right hand into his gut, and follow up with an uppercut from her left. As if this would not have been enough with the stone itself, Drive mode had beefed up her strength, and the result sent Rylo flying back yet again.

This time, he had no way of stopped his tumbling as he released a loud grunt, followed by a groan, and ending in him being rendered unconscious.

"... Good fight, ya' damn clown," Evanee spat as she descended from Drive mode and wandered into the guild, leaving Rylo there to deal with himself... When he came to, that is.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Inside, Caelestis waited for Evanee, and when she walked in, he immediately questioned, "so, where did _you_ run off to, Ev?"

It took some willpower, but she hadn't twitched at the nickname this time around.

"I was taking care of business," she responded, "why?"

"Usually the Master is informed when one of their members is off to a mission."

"So... you're mad?"

"Not mad."

"Nah, you mad."

"...I-..." Caelestis let out a sigh and shook his head, "never mind. We gained two new female members while you were gone. Introduce yourself and give them the ritual tonight, please."

"I'll think about it," she grinned, trotting up to her room.

**.**

**.**

**.**

Rylo finally regained consciousness after an hour and a half, though he was still in the meadow. He sucked his teeth and folded his arms. "Nice to know the guild mates are willing to help the S-Class...!" He sat up, stood up, and rubbed his head slightly at the throbbing before walking back into the guild to find Flynn and Victoria examining the growing request board. He darted over to them and placed his arms around either of their shoulders. "Lookin' at jobs huh?"

"Yeah..!" the female blond replied, "Flynn and I were actually looking to make a team and go together..!"

Flynn nodded, confirming her statement, and flashed a smirk, "things will get done quicker with two! Then we can take more and get our names out there fast."

"You know," Rylo began, a slight grin creeping up on his face, "you get more opportunities with an S-Class accompanying you."

"Are you suggesting...?"

"I certainly am! You two would make lovely assistants!"

"Heh, count me in!"

"Aye, and me!"

The S-Class team addition then spun the two lower class mages around and guided them upstairs to where the higher requests were kept.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The only reason Evanee had left her room today was to fetch a snack from the kitchen. But of course, the two newbies Caelestis had talked about were sitting in the loft, and ran up to her the moment she stepped off the stairs.

"Evanee-chwaaaaaaan! I've heard so much about you!" One exclaimed, causing her to sigh and pinch the bridge of her nose.

"I've heard about you too, Evanee-san!" The blond added on.

_Greeeaaat_, Evanee thought to herself.

She pointed to the one with green hair, then to the one with blond. "Give me your names and magic. I don't particularly care about the other things right now, I'll figure out with time."

The younger, giddy, seaweed-green-haired girl started off.

"I'm Tasmi Julie Vasquez the III! But you can call me Sam! My magic is Light Manipulation!"

Next, the slightly older, calmer, blond haired girl began her introduction.

"My name is Melanie Hasani. I'm a first generation Aqua Dragon Slayer."

"Fantastic. Your initiations will be later in the evening, now go away."

Melanie obliged right away, but as Tsami began to leave, she turned, and pulled Evanee into a tight embrace. After a moment, she released, and skipped off in glee, leaving the dragon slayer to stand in astonishment.

"... I _really _hate newbies..."


	9. Chapter 9

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_**IX**_

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"Uwah! All these missions," Victoria's eyes were lit up in sheer admiration for the jobs displayed in front of her, "they all look so challenging...!"

"The perks of being an S-Class are wonderful, aren't they?" The much taller slight-of-hand mage inquired in an almost sarcastic tone as he watched the pale blond awe in requests.

"I bet if I was an S-Class, I could get all these jobs done and then some," Flynn intruded, obviously letting his cocky side seep through into the conversation. "Faster than you could blink! Let me at 'em!"

Rylo planted the palms of either of his hands on top of both lower ranked members, tussling their blond hair for a brief moment before letting out a chuckle. "Relax. You both seem overwhelmed. Allow me to choose."

The cliché mage's eyes scanned the request board for several seconds before he reached a hand out, snatching the slip of paper from the top left corner, reading "Aid needed in Country of Seven. 475K Jewel reward."

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Eeeannneeee-wwaaaaaaannnnnnn...!"

Evanee planted her face in the palm of her hand, a subtle scowl on her face as a twitch crossed her expression.

"I told you _not_ to call me that, Tsami. And stop speaking before you drop the damn stone."

The seaweed-green haired light mage nodded vigorously and then turned to the sunshine blond dragon slayer beside her. There would have been a very visible and eager smile on her face... If there hadn't been a stone firmly placed between her lips. The other girl, otherwise known as Melanie, had a rather distraught expression. In no way, shape, or form, was the aquatic slayer excited for their initiation. In fact, she was rather petrified; tears were steadily welling up in the corner of her eyes as her lip quivered behind the stone placed within her own mouth.

"Sandstorm!" Before the two mages had time to react, a blizzard of rock and sediment had been launched their way, pelting and bruising them with contact. Both Tsami and Melanie bit hard into the stones as their wincing masked their faces. To a normal ear, the girls were silent, but thanks to the drums of a dragon, each grunt and barely audible whimper of the new guild mates rang in Evanee's ears. "Only five minutes," she whispered to herself, grinning slightly as the ritual carried on.

The seconds dragged on. For every minute that passed, it had felt like an hour. Each shard of rock grazed both girl's skin, occasionally tearing their skin, but always leaving a bruise or scratch in its wake.

Tsami was determined; with clenched fists and muscles, she endured each impact as best she could. In her mind, this was the only way she could prove herself of worth to the guild. It was the one thing jogging through her thoughts. She wasn't going to fail this initiation. She wasn't going to let Evanee, or herself, down.

Melanie, on the other hand, was not able to hold up as well. The aquatic dragon slayer was wincing; her body convulsed, twitched, and danced with each stone that pelted her skin. Even with her water body ability, the sediments launched at her were much too big to pass through. Yes, she wanted to prove herself. There was no doubt Melanie wanted to pass this as much as Tsami did. She just _couldn't_ last. "This should be classified as torture," Melanie mentally whispered.

Three minutes and thirty seconds down. One minute and thirty seconds to go. Time was flying for Evanee, but for the two being tested, it was no faster than a three month old child trying to crawl across the living room floor.

Four minutes and fifteen seconds down. The light mage was still standing strong.

Only thirty more seconds to go.

_Gasp._

_Thud._

Evanee looked down at the stone that had hit the ground. A brow raised curiously as she followed it up to the person behind it. Melanie was frowning as she stared at the stone she had dropped. Tsami had become wide-eyed. The thirty seconds finally pass, and the stone dragon slayer ceases her assault. "Well, well, Melanie," Evanee directs her pointer finger to the stack of cinder blocks placed neatly in front of the Twilight Zone guild, "take your pick. Make sure it's your favorite, you'll be spending a lot of quality time with it." All the golden blond could do was sigh and drag her feet to the pile, lifting the first block she found up, and hoisting it onto her shoulder blades. With a prominent frown on her lips, she phased through he meteorology bubble and planted her feet firmly in the snow.

Evanee gave a come hither motion to the lasting Tsami, who had already erupted into cheer and excitement. She darted up to the ace and threw her arms around her in a tight embrace.

"I'm so glad I passed, Evanee-chwan!" She exclaimed, rubbing her cheek gleefully against the other.

Dumbfounded, all Evanee could manage was a sour expression before taking her palm and planting onto Tsami's face, pressing and forcing her off. "Yeah, sure, throw a party for it. Let's just... Go inside."

"Hai hai, Evanee-chwaaaaann!"

"... I swear..."

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Are you sure we all agree on this job?" Rylo questioned as he began to pack his bag with essentials.

"H-Hai! We can handle it, Ry-san!" The neon-make mage quickly responded.

"Great. Victoria, Flynn, go pack your bags. I'll tell Master Caelestis we're heading to the country of Seven!"

**.**

**.**

**.**

In the main loft, sat a white-haired man with a top hat, across from dressed in a black over coat and green under jacket. Both had irises that represented the red of blood, but it appeared that only one had a hint of lust for such in his glare.

As Evanee and Tsami re-entered the guild, both their gazes fell to the males. He decorated with the top hat glanced in the girls' direction, only to sneer slightly and redirect his eyes elsewhere. In contrast, the one dressed like a normal person rose from his seat and approached them. He politely offered his hand, first to Evanee – who shook quickly, yet hesitantly. Then, to Tsami, who – rather than shaking – pulled the man into a tight embrace, which cut him off from revealing his name.

"Uwah! You must be new, too! I'm Tsami Julie Vas.." – Evanee slapped her right palm over the rambling light mage's mouth. "No one has time for your full name. It's Tsami. And I'm Ev..." –

"Evanee Stalactite. The ace. Yes, I know. I've heard a deal about you already," he interrupted, "my name is Alexander Kahn. I'm a user of War God magic."

"War God magic, eh? I've never met anyone who uses that. How interesting," the green-tipped ace replied while Tsami mumbled furiously underneath her hand. "I'll look forward to seeing you in action some day." Evanee flashed a vague grin to the male before releasing Tsami and wandering off into the kitchen, cutting the introduction short as she usually hated interaction with newbies anyway. Without a second thought, the giddy light mage followed the ace, a skip in her step.

Alexander was left with a puzzled expression dazzling his features. He blinked several times before turning to the man with the top hat.

"How come you didn't introduce yourself?"

He shrugged and pulled the hat off the top of his head, skillfully twirling it so that it landed in his lap. "I want her to figure out where I come from herself. Think of it as a... Test. A little quiz for the ace." The mystery man grinned devilishly, bowing his head ever so slightly, so that his white bangs obscured his piercing eyes.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The three wizards boarded a steaming train at the Magnolia station; their expressions all ridden with excitement.

"Our first S-Class mission," Flynn and Victoria cooed in unison.

"First mission as a team, too! If all goes well, you two can be my permanent assistants!" Rylo stated through a smirk. However, the speed and maker mages were too wound up in their awe to pay mind to their superior.

"What do you think it's going to be like, Flynn!?"

"It's going to be great! I'll get to show off my speed and when we get back, Master will have to recognize me as an S-Class!"

"Maybe I can be one, too! Then we can start taking the missions by ourselves, and...!" Victoria's eyes glistened with glee; her pupils were comically replaced with diamond sparkles as her hands were clasped before her.

Flynn was in the same state of daze as his fellow guild mate, minus the shining eyes and squeals of excitement. He was raising his fists, punching the air in reprise as he imagined being rewarded the title of S-Class, the perk of perching high on the second floor and monitoring over the lower ranked members. "Sugoi!" he exclaimed.

Rylo watched his teammates, palming his face silently at their continuous actions.

"It's going to be a very _very long_ hour..." He thought to himself.

A whistle sounded.

The train left station, headed in the direction of the country of Seven.

**.**

**.**

**.**

"Nyahh... How long is an hour...!?" In the snow outside Twilight Zone, Melanie's legs began to shake as the weight of the cinder block tortured her figure.

Two hours down. As long as she'll last to go.

"... Evanee, shouldn't you go and bring the new girl inside?" Caelestis wore a face of inquisition as he interrogated his pupil.

"Nah. She's only been out there two hours. If she can't tell time, she can just come in when she can't take anymore," she retorted, almost heartlessly.

"...I – … What am I going to do with you?"

"... Just keep doin' what you're doin'!"

**.**

**.**

**.**

An hour and fifteen minutes pass. The train carrying the dazed Flynn and Victoria, and their slightly agitated team mate Rylo, docked in Seven's main station. The cliché mage immediately stood from his seat, giving a light tap to the lower ranks' heads before exiting and taking in the sight of the new country. It took five minutes, but his team mates joined him before the train's second departure.

With their bags hung over their shoulders, the three Twilight Zone mages began their trek to a small Northeastern village in Seven.

"... I'll race you guys!" Flynn exclaimed, immediately taking off at a speed that almost rivaled lightning in the direction of the village.

A gust of wind blew past Rylo and Victoria, who stood with blank expressions, blinking in unison as they tried to piece together what just occurred. They watched a cloud of dust raise into the air like a trail that followed the speed mage.

"SERIOUSLY, FLYNN!?" They both shouted, but he was long gone.

"Catch me if you can!" He retorted from his position, at least a mile ahead.

Rylo's eyebrow twitched as he took off in a dead sprint, chasing the racing blond.

"W-Wait for me...!" Victoria frowned slightly before darting after the two.


	10. Chapter 10

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_**X**_

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The village's scenery slowly, but surely, came to Rylo's and Victoria's views as the came up behind Flynn (who obviously had won the race). Out of breath, the slower teammates glanced over the buildings briefly while panting, but managed to reveal grins of satisfaction. Flynn, instead, was silent. Observing. Carefully watching for what his teammates failed to realize in their tired daze.

"Finally... Here.." Victoria confirmed to her teammates.

"Yeah... But look at that over there..." The blond speed mage raised his finger, directing the other two towards several trails of smoke that puffed into the sky. The largest one came from the center of the village; its flames were protruding, even from behind the concealment of the statues and tall business buildings. "I think we've just found our problem."

Rylo removed his top hat slowly, taking in the sight of the fires, and when the wind blew in their direction, shielding himself from the heat that whispered across his person. "Well, what are we waiting for, team?" He inquired, just before replacing the decorative hat and descending down the mountain edge to hopefully meet with their antagonists.

**.**

**.**

**.**

The Twilight Zone guild was relatively peaceful. Still under the radar, and still rather small, not much excitement would echo throughout their halls on a daily basis. Evanee was perched within her room, Caelestis fumbled through work in his office, and Tsami and Melanie conversed quietly in the kitchen while Alexander scoured around for food.

It had seemed that everyone was present inside the guild – minus the three out on their job – except for.. One.

Outside the Twilight building, a rather tall, intricately dressed male sat upon the stairs. He traced his finger along the lip of the black top hat that covered his head, and a majority of his snow white hair. A sinister smirk carved its way onto his lips and his eyes radiated with lust. Blood lust.

The sound of silence circulated inside the meteorology bubble, but if you closed your eyes, and listened closely, you could just barely make out the faint sound of the harsh winds and ferociously swirling snow of the raging blizzard on the mountain top. A harmonic quiet that was only disturbed by one thing.

The insane laughter of the new member spilled from his pale pink lips. It was not loud enough for those inside to hear it, but it was loud enough to overrun the peaceful silence. As quickly as his outburst came, it left all the same. He began to speak; a calm, yet soft and sadistic tone.

One phrase.

A phrase soon to be tested by all that he is.

"It won't be long before Magnolia knows of the lightning Demon Slayer. Taranis is here to stay."

**.**

**.**

**.**

A crowd of three was seen standing in the center of the village. Each figure had a defined, unique stature. The tallest seemed to be overly bulky with muscle, with a top-heavy appearance that was certainly non humanistic. Standing next to, a person of average height with much less build, and long, flowing hair that fell to the ground at their feet. The last of of the group was much shorter than the other two, despite the platforms that aided in height. Her hair was gathered in distinct arches atop her head, while the rest reached down to her lower back.

The orange glow of the flames that surrounded the area flew in, defining the faces of each figure just as Twilight Zone's team had become a part of the scene. Flynn and Victoria had stopped in their tracks, leaving Rylo to take the lead and face the group. However, rather than having the first word, the cliché mage waited. Waited for an explanation.

It wasn't long before he was granted one. Elegantly, the woman took three steps forward, setting one foot carefully in front of the other, perfectly aligned. "Oh my," she began, "it seems you haven't brought the one we desire along with you..."

"The one you... Desire?" Rylo inquired as a hint of confusion began to dabble over his face.

"The evil deeds of your nakama has reached our guild's ears!" The overly bulky male exclaimed, taking his own steps forward, turning his owl head to the side as he did. "Today, this warrior of justice will bury their evil! Hoo-Hoo-Hoot!"

Flynn began to open his mouth, but quickly quieted himself, remaining dumbfounded at the current situation.

Victoria, on the other hand, spoke up. "... Ah... Why is there an owl preaching to us...?" Her jaw dropped open in a comical manner as she pondered, lightly scratching her cheek.

"Birds talking... Coming from a magician, that's quite the fancy trick. Unfortunately for you, we don't surrender guild mates. Even for whatever reason you're after one of 'em."

"Is that so...?" The female took another step forward, beginning to unsheathe the sword resting on her hip. "Are you willing to fight for his life? For the life of a demon?"

"Demon...? So you mean..."

"They're after Taranis-san..!"

"Heh," the male with hair to the ground stepped forward, now standing along side his team, "we'll send him right back to _hell. _Go to hell! THE DARKEST DEPTHS OF _HELL!_" He swung his head around, whipping the long black hair wildly as he strummed the electric guitar in his hands, sending screeching sound waves of out-of-tune notes through the air.

The "S-Class" team all covered their ears, wincing as the sound eerily scratched along their ear drums. Rylo gritted his teeth, and released his ears to tug at the cuff of his sleeve, shouting, "Nothing up my sleeve," while doing so. A magic seal appeared in front of him, followed by a vortex, which absorbed the painful waves from the guitar. "Heh..."

"No one stops my music! Go to hell! HELL!"

"Enough, Vidaldus," the woman stepped in, "we must abide by our fate. This evening will be a festival." She lifted her face, slowly opening her eyes, revealing piercing green irises. "How will you fair against the strongest team of Death's Head Caucus? I, Ikaruga of Trinity Raven, will be sure to steal away your night."

"Hoo-hoo-hoot! And I will not allow you to break the rules! I will pass judgment on you in the name of justice! The warrior of justice, Fukuro, won't let you by without a fight!"


	11. Chapter 11

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_**XI**_

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"Death's Head Caucus..."

"T-Trinity Raven..."

"Don't get scared now, you two. I know it's not what we expected, but I'll be damned if we let some petty assassins guild step on us. We're the Twilight Zone, remember? And we're headed for the top!" The slight of hand mage encouraged his teammates while simultaneously removing his top hat with a twirl. Neatly, the item dropped to the ground, and Rylo took on a defensive stance. "Let's put on a show, shall we?"

A small, yet devious smirk crossed the pinkette's lips as she took another elegant step forward, further unsheathing her signature sword. "Your confidence and vigor is quite intriguing. Please, allow me to be your opponent."

"Bring it on," he replied in a quite cocky manner, "ladies first."

Ikaruga's smirk widened insanely, "my, a gentleman... And a foolish one." The assassin raised her sword and slashed forward at the air. For three seconds, it had appeared that nothing had happened, until Rylo was suddenly thrown off his feet and pushed back through the air. He was only able to stop himself after rolling into the ground and digging his hand into the dirt. Pain slamming into his nerves, the cliché mage gripped tightly onto his now injured arm.

"Gah..! What the hell..!?"

"Do not think lightly of me. My sword is not some toy."

Rylo stood up, letting a few seconds pass in silence before a smirk of his own dominated his lips. "Well you know, I'm not just some mage... Nothing up my sleeve!"

**.**

**.**

"Hoo-hoo-hoot!" The jet pack that accented Fukuro's back emitted two magic seals at its thrusters. "The warrior of justice does not forgive those who aid wrong-doers!"

A grin plastered Flynn's face as he then began to jog in place. "I don't know anything about justice, but can you handle my speed!?" In a split second, the speed mage had taken off towards the owl. All that was noticeable was the golden yellow blur of his blond hair. It was in no time that Flynn was close enough to rear back his fist and throw a power packed punch at the side of Fukuro's head, but much to Flynn's astonishment, it was blocked. The assassin mage then gripped Flynn's wrist and aimed a harsh kick to his abdomen, while chanting "kick, hoo-hoo-hoot!" The speed mage's grin was replaced with a smirk as he was easily able to find the moment between Fukuro's kick connecting by using the advantage of his secondary Slowing Magic, and then pressed his two feet into the man's chest, forcing him away. Flynn skillfully stuck his landing with a flip. When he stood, he held his right hand out, and gave the assassin a "bring it," motion.

"Hoo-Hoo-Hoot! You won't stay lucky for long!"

"I don't need luck when I have speed. Don't blink!"

**.**

**.**

"Are you ready to see hell? I'll show you the lowest pits of the ultimate _hell!_" Vidaldus dropped his tongue out of his mouth in a crude manner, strumming the guitar in his hands yet again to release screeching notes towards the neon-make mage, Victoria.

"I... I won't lose to you! Neon-Make: Lance!" The petite blonde slammed her fist into an open palm, summoning a magic circle before her that immediately shot out an onslaught of neon lances towards the guitar mage.

A twisted grin appeared on Vidaldus' make upped face as the lances raced towards him. Again, sticking his tongue out of his mouth in a sick manner, the guitarist strummed and began to head bang wildly. "Yes! I see you're ready to rock!" The previous strum of his instrument had brought a magic circle of his own before him. In response to the lances, Vidaldus summoned a sound wall to block the incoming projectiles as a sinister grin masked his face. The blond mage frowned, but tried her best to keep from becoming discourage. Yet again, she took on the molder mage's stance. "Neon Make: Scythe!" A magic circle appeared before her, and almost immediately following, a scythe composed of the element Neon, much larger than the girl who, herself, had created it.

She swallowed her fear, her nerves, and her lack of confidence. In their place, Victoria adopted a demeanor ready for battle; a voice that meant action.

"Imagination is strength!"


	12. Chapter 12

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_**XII**_

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"Nothing up my sleeve!" The neatly dressed mage lifted the cuff of his sleeve, drawing forth a magic circle, which fired the violent sound waves, absorbed from Vidaldus' earlier attack, directly towards the pinkette, Ikaruga.

Obviously unable to cut through sound, the assassin's sword never leaves its position. Rylo was standing behind his attack, squinting his eyes in order to watch his opponent closely. Their slitted nature was brought to an end as he found that Ikaruga was not affected by his attack at all. The winds from the magic died off; the sound following, and the cliché mage adopted a disgruntled and bewildered expression. The female merely smirked, retaining the calm disposition she held since the beginning of the encounter. "Attacking me with the skill of my subordinates will do you no good, magician," she elegantly hummed.

In one swift movement, her sword was drawn, and with rehearsed flicks of the wrist, Ikaruga sent a raging multitude of slashes towards the S-Class mage. This time, there were no strings attached to the attack. The second they were sent, they assaulted Rylo with no mercy, leaving his outfit slightly tattered, and drawing faint grunts from his lips. However, in the midst of the attack, two, rather large, magic seals formed behind Rylo himself, and Ikaruga. From them, sprang two enlarged playing cards, wearing faces that continuously flickered through all the suits and numbers of a deck of cards. The shuffling ceased on eight of clubs, and another magic circle appeared in front of the pinkette, summoning a devastating explosion that knocked her off her feet. "Heh, this your card?"

The assassin bit her tongue to keep from releasing any sounds of pain as the explosion ran through her body. Now, slightly scathed, she gritted her teeth, and recomposed herself. The mocking tone she sensed in her opponent's voice began to anger her slightly as she took grip of her sword once more. This time, when she sent the slashes forward, the result was a powerful blast of fire, that raged towards the cliché mage. On his toes, Rylo was able to lift the cuff of his sleeve, absorbing _most_ of the fireball. About two thirds of the way through, he was incapable of holding anymore, and the heat slammed into him, dealing further destruction to his already torn clothes. Ikaruga had only waited for her attack to end, a bad decision on her part, as the second the assault cleared, an almost exact replica of her attack was sent into her. Unprepared for such an action, she was hardly able to guard herself with her arms; she took the hit with her forearms and slid back slightly. When all was cleared, Ikaruga looked to draw her sword once again, but a porcelain blur ran past her and circled the field back to the slight of hand mage. Just as she raised her hand to attack, a barrage of empty slashes connected with her person, drawing blood from the scratches that formed. Just as the first blow ended, a fireball ran into the Sword Mage as well. Her bloodied, and now partially burned, features drew into a scowl as the smoke cleared and she noticed the source of the problem.

Merely yards away, Rylo was seen standing in the stance similar to that of an ancient warrior, with a smirk on his face. The slight of hand mage raised the katana above his head and took charge towards his opponent. Once in range, he aimed an onslaught of clean cuts over her upper torso. Despite Ikaruga's speed, she struggled to weave out of range from the assaults. After a slice was landed to her upper right arm, drawing more blood, she let out a pained squeal. The skilled Sword Mage continued to duck and dodge Rylo's attacks, much to his irritation, and waited for just the right moment to strike. At that time, she raised a poised leg and aimed a kick directly to the S-Class' gut, only to be followed by a sharp uppercut to his chin, causing him to draw back.

Confident in his come back, however, Rylo donned another smirk and charged at the pinkette once more. He skillfully sent empty slashes through the air towards Ikaruga, who was incapable of dodging them due to their striking nature. The arms of her kimono were cleanly cut off and a field of cuts and bruises littered her otherwise flawless skin. Fed up with her enemy, the assassin leapt into the air and towards Rylo, ready to aim an axe-kick to the top of his head, but with his break dancing background, he was able to flip back out of the way, and send another plethora of empty slashes towards Ikaruga. While still in the air, this time, she was able to quickly bring herself down, leaving the attacks to wither in the atmosphere.

Once more, she charged at the S-Class just as he had dropped his hands to the ground, causing a magic seal to run through his body and allow him to camouflage with the surroundings, leaving him invisible. Ikaruga, however, had still been able to see Rylo as her katana had not followed his act, and landed a drop kick to the middle of his chest. Stumbling back, he mistakenly dropped the sword, allowing Ikaruga to regain ownership. Her tranquility returned with this simple act, as did her confidence. Disregarding the loss she had been experiencing, this masterful swordsman had no need to physically see her opponent. Yasha's Empty Slashes would do all the work for her. Ikaruga raised her trusted katana over her head and wavered it in rehearsed directions. Rylo held his breath, and slowly began to reach for the cuff of his sleeve to suck in the attack he knew was about to come. But as soon as he lifted the fabric, the slashes struck, more ruthlessly and painfully than any other time they had; a near perfect embodiment of the rage he had brought upon the assassin. The strikes caused him to lose his focus, and his camouflage glimmered out of concentration. He was left panting, but had the energy within him to begin performing a last attack in hopes to end the battle with his opponent.

A black magic seal formed on the Earth, causing Ikaruga to raise a brow. "I must admit," she began, "you seem to have quite the spirit. But, knowing when to give up is a strength, not a weakness, magician."

"Giving up just isn't my thing," he retorted as a female spirit arose from the seal. "Meet my Lovely Assistant," Rylo then added through a grin.

The spirit conjured wore a red dress and matching lipstick. Her hands were coated in a red aura of magic that she directed towards Rylo; support magic. Similar to the effects of vernir, the assistant's magic gave Rylo of periodic boost of speed, which he used in order to charge Ikaruga, aiming a right hook to her jaw, followed by an uppercut by his left fist.

Ikaruga did not move. Instead, she rested her eyes and waited for him to near her. Just as he did, she slowly, yet sternly, opened her right eye only, and suddenly, another multitude of empty slashes attacked Rylo's body, and his assistant's as well, causing her to disperse into nothing. Despite his efforts to bite his tongue, a sharp gasp of pain escaped his tired lips, and he fell to the ground.

"I do not lose," Ikaruga sang as she stepped to the fallen magician, placing the heel of her platform to his temple. "You have many years of work ahead of you before you could hope to beat someone of my level."

Beneath her shoe, Rylo groaned in a futile attempt to combat the pain now surging through his skull. He clenched his eyes shut, not daring to make a response.

The assassin lifted her heel, only to harshly bring it back down onto his temple, forcing his body to twitch in pain. But, because of her agitation with the battle, and with rather minimal interest in killing one that was unworthy of the death by her blade, Ikaruga left the half-conscious magician to himself to watch the battles of her teammates move on.

"Trinity Raven will not fail in this mission; the mission to shine the heavenly light of justice bright, bringing death to sinners... A beastly poem..."


	13. Chapter 13

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_**XIII**_

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"Don't blink!" The cocky speed mage rushed towards the owl assassin in a golden yellow blur, and ultimately landed a direct uppercut to the enemy's chin. Fukuro's head twisted in a non-humanistic manner and belted out a hardy laugh. "Hoo-hoo-hoot! Your petty attempts to injure will not work on the warrior of justice, Fukuro!" He batted his beady eyes and readjusted his head. At the same time, a pair of magic seals formed at the thrusters of his jet pack, and Fukuro launched himself directly towards Flynn.

The Twilight Zone Mage, however, was not keen on the idea. Just as the assassin began to near him, a magic seal captured his feet and ran through his body, representing the activation of Flynn's Slowing Magic. With Fukuro's speed halved, Flynn used his own speed again to land a powerful right hook to the owl's cheek, followed by a second uppercut with his left fist. Not let wishing to let up on his opponent, the blonde aimed a hard right kick to the assassin's ribcage, sending him off to the side and into the ground. "If anyone should be relying on luck, it's you! Ya' turkey!" Flynn shouted in a condescending tone, now jogging in place.

Fukuro recomposed himself from the hits he took, shaking off his feathered head. His neck twitched and his head turned to side, "hoo-hoo-hoot! This will be a fight to remember!" The thrusters of the half-owl, half-man's jet pack furnished seals once more and Fukuro charged towards Flynn. With speed slightly improved from his last rush, the assassin was able to collide with the speed mage in a full-body tackle. Flynn gagged from the impact, and before he could blink, he had a been slugged with a potent right hook to the jaw. He slid off to the side, but quickly returned with another approach, and swung a roundhouse to the owl's head. Much to Flynn's delight, his attack collided, but something was... Off about Fukuro.

Rather than acting affected by the hit he had just taken (and Flynn was sure he had put power into that!) he merely vaguely batted his eyes and bobbed his, now left tilted, head while cooing like a regular night owl. "Hoo-hoo-hoot! Is that all you've got?" The inquisition was only followed by Fukuro's jet pack releasing a tremendous amount of magic from its thrusters; enough so that it could successfully detach itself from his back and fly directly at the speed mage. "Jet Ho Ho Hou!" Flynn, with his cocky nature, was confident he had the ability to outrun the projectile, and began to do just that. But to his surprise, the object began to close in on him; not only that, but arms extended from its center and grabbed the blond by his legs. Taking high flight into the air, and bringing Flynn along with it, the jet pack soared at a reckless velocity, in turn, spinning the male as if he were a lasso. Even though he wasn't one to succumb to motion sickness, it was practically inevitable in his current position.

When the jet pack suddenly came to a crashing halt, the arms retracted, and Flynn's legs were released. Green and groggy, the speed mage collided with the ground, producing a heavy "thud" from his weight. His eyes swirled in an animated, dazed and dizzy fashion. Just as Flynn was about to recover, Fukuro swept in and landed a kick to his side, causing Flynn to grunt and have a mild coughing fit. But, the assassin wasn't done just yet. The overly bulked male picked up the Twilight Zone Mage by his arm, only to slam a quick haymaker to his jaw, yet again drawing a grunt. Though he was sent aback, the attacks snapped Flynn out of his disoriented state. He rubbed his jaw at the area of impact and shifted it to release the tension before putting on his most convincing smirk.

"Is... That all you got, bird brains..?" It was clear that Flynn was trying not to stammer over his words through his pants, but working to no avail. The half owl cocked his head to the side and released the croak of a bird. "You will not last against the Warrior of Justice's full strength!" Fukuro retorted, batting his beady eyes in an eerie manner. "Prepare yourself!" With that, Fukuro's still hovering jet pack emitted its magic seals, however this time, the result was not a launch for flight; rather, it was an attack. From its blazing thrusters, a summation of magic began to gather into an exceptionally large globe. "Judgement, Ho Ho Hou!" Just as he finished speaking, the sphere was fired directly at Flynn, who was caught off guard, as the object was behind his range of vision. The magic slammed into the speed mage's back, sending him tumbling forward to the feet of Fukuro. He bent over to pick Flynn up once again by his arm, and lifted the blond into the air. His jaw unhinged and expanded massively, enough to fit a human inside... Which is exactly what he began to do.

Fukuro began to stuff the speed mage into his bird-like mouth, causing Flynn to flail excessively. His yells of protest went smothered from other ears, as he was being eaten head first. Due to his panic, he was nearly half devoured before ideas began to spring into his head. Using his premature knowledge of elemental magic, Flynn placed his palms on either side of Fukuro's throat, causing two magic seals to form: one icy blue, and one a glossy orange. From this, a violent wave of ice magic ran down the assassin's left side, while an equally fierce wave of fire magic ran down his right. With the pain surging throughout his body, Fukuro immediately coughed Flynn back up and clutched his throat while comically running around in a futile attempt to combat the pain. While he was doing this, Flynn managed to recompose himself, just in time to rush at Fukuro and land a plethora of potent physical attacks amongst his body. The assassin's body reacted to each hit taken by moving back step by step. Bruises were beginning to become eminent, only feeding Flynn's ego. He ended his combo with a quick right hook to Fukuro's jaw, and followed that by a left uppercut.

Surprisingly enough, Fukuro was launched back and tumbled through the dirt in what appeared to be a KO. Believing this to be the end of his battle, Flynn lowered his guard and dusted his hands, now panting quite heavily as the damage began to prevail over his health. He opened his mouth to make a sardonic remark, but was silenced by the harmonic sound of a woman's voice and tranquil music.

"My, my... Could it be you've defeated Fukuro all by yourself?" She inquired rather condescendingly, bringing Flynn to turn to the woman, who was none other than Ikaruga.

"Don't underestimate anyone from Twilight Zone," he shot back, rather coldly, but still panting between his words.

"Oh, no, racer. I was merely commenting..."

"... Don't give me any attitude," Flynn said through a squint.

The pinkette shrugged her shoulders and allowed a smug grin to cross her features. Just then, the heavily muscular owl-man came up behind Flynn and coiled his enormous palm around his throat. Using a grip just shy of having the capability to snap a neck, Fukuro choke-slammed the blond into the dirt of the battle field, rendering him unconscious and incapable of fighting.

"Justice has been served once again! Hoo-Hoo-Hoot!" He shouted as he proudly landed his fists on his waist.

Ikaruga shot him a cold glare, which was rather rare for an elegant woman, such as herself.

"Do not forget we have a mission to complete, Fukuro. I expect you not to stumble anywhere close to failing again. Are we clear?"

A sweat drop ran down his feathered cheek as he nodded furiously. "Yes, captain!"


End file.
